Poor mental health of employees costs Indian employers $14 billion a year

India – Poor mental health of employees costs Indian companies a combined $14 billion a year because of absenteeism, attrition and other reasons, according to a report by Deloitte.

Deloitte surveyed almost 4,000 workers in India. Around 47 per cent of surveyed workers considered workplace-related stress as the biggest factor affecting their mental health. They also said that financial and COVID-19 challenges affected their mental health. The survey by Deloitte was conducted between November 2021 and April 2022. Deloitte released the report on Thursday.

Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP (DTTILLP) conducted the survey titled ‘Mental health and well-being in the workplace’ to analyse the current state of mental well-being of Indian employees.

The report said that “poor mental health of employees costs Indian employers around USD 14 billion per year.”

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Charu Sehgal, partner and Life Sciences and Health Care leader, said, “Mental health-related problems are not new in India, but this matter has come to light because of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The survey revealed that around 80 percent of the Indian workforce reported mental health problems in the past year. However, stigma over mental health issues in society prevented around 39 percent of the affected respondents from taking any help. Mental health issues have long been taboo in India, and society does not take mental health problems seriously. 

Reportedly, 33 of the surveyed workers continued to work despite poor mental health, while 29 percent of workers took time off to take care of their mental health and 20 percent of the workers resigned from work.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has also estimated that poor mental health of employees costs the global economy $1 trillion yearly. WHO has also estimated that the economic loss because of poor mental health conditions between 2012 and 2030 would be around $1.03 trillion in India.